Project Reports

SARE's mission is to advance–to the whole of American agriculture–innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education.
SARE's vision is...

Summary/Abstract

Ideally, organic farming practices should be the best example of an integrated approach to pest management. However, many certified organic farmers still use an approach that merely substitutes an approved pesticide for a material used in conventional production. A high priority for vegetable farmers and agricultural educators is for scientifically reliable and easily accessible information about preventative and rescue treatments for responding to insect and disease pest problems that integrate the use of low-impact materials and best agricultural preventive practices. To address this problem, this same project team published the "Resource Guide for Insect and Disease Management" in 2005 as part of projects supported by SARE and others.
We now propose to update and improve the guide by adding four other vegetable crop families and including additional cultural practices and material evaluations. A key to our approach this time is to work with farmers through farm visits and group meetings to assess their perspective on the efficacy of both new cultural practices and materials as well as those recommended in the first edition of the Guide. As with the first edition, the information presented will be scientifically based and peer reviewed efficacy studies.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Of the 20 farmers involved with trainings and assessment of the resource guide, 10 will refine their production practices to eliminate or reduce pesticide use. Of the 100 farmers and educators who receive free copies of the revised guide, 25 will adopt or recommend new cultural practices that reduce pesticide use, and an additional 25 will change a pesticide material to one with less negative impact on the agroecosystem.

This project and all associated reports and support materials were supported by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed within do not necessarily reflect the view of the SARE program or the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

1122 Patapsco Building | University of Maryland | College Park, MD 20742-6715

This Web site is maintained by the national outreach office of the SARE program, supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture.